Friday, May 14, 2004

He's back, baby!

ESPN.com: Page 2 - I'm back

"Q: I don't live in a cave or anything, but I noticed that Page 2 no longer shows you as a writer for "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in the little sentence at the end of each column. I've heard nothing about the show going away, but nothing about you leaving, either. What's going on?
--Matt Karpowitz, Olathe, Kansas


SG: Remember when MJ came back to the Bulls in '95 and put out that two-word press release? Well ...

I'm not MJ. So I can't do that.


But yes, something is going on. Two weeks ago, I left Jimmy's show, and I'm signing a new contract with ESPN. When it came right down to it, I missed writing my column and wanted the chance to pursue some additional opportunities with ESPN (none of which I'm allowed to mention yet -- although sadly, the launching of ESPN6 isn't one of them). Between working 60 hours a week for a TV show and trying to keep my column alive, there just wasn't enough time in the week. And I felt like my writing was starting to slip -- I just didn't have enough time to work on columns or even think about them (which is three-fourths of the writing process). So something had to give.


On a sad note, I'm leaving behind one of the best experiences of my life. I can't possibly explain what it feels like to help launch such a massive enterprise from scratch. People come, people go, people panic, people flip out, people screw up, people screw up some more ... somehow the show keeps moving along. It's a little like building a house. Things eventually take shape, and somewhere along the line you think to yourself, "Wow, this is starting to look like a house." If you have a creative bone in your body, it's one of the most satisfying feelings you can have. I was lucky.


I would tell you more, but devoting anything less than 100,000 words to everything I loved about working for this show would belittle the impact that everyone had on me. You'll have to wait for the book. Sure, I'll never write it, but you'll have to wait.


Anyway ...

I'm back.

(Now I wish I had gone with the two-word press release.) "

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